An Ultimatum
by LostinOblivion
Summary: Emily has been stuck in Virginia going on two years, and is getting angry. Fluffy Angst.


This wasn't working, it wasn't even close to working. That's why Emily was waiting patiently in the slightly padded metal chairs outside her boss's office at 7:30 on a Monday morning. She'd been there for a half hour already, having gotten to work extra early, and made a beeline for his office, to make sure his secretary got her in. It wasn't looking very good, and Emily's patience was wearing thin.

She been patient for two years, two goddamned wasted years of her life, she could have been doing so much with, but wasn't. She'd been stuck in this perpetual time loop of an assignment that had kept (and was still keeping) her in Virginia, Quantico to be exact. It was supposed to be a year, and not an entirely optional one. She been told she was being shipped to Quantico for a year to teach new recruits and give her expertise in negotiation cases that were pending lawsuits.

And, she done both for a year, with never a complaint, just the faint hope that she could go home, back to LA. After Ally came to light, Mexico was barely swept under the carpet, and well, Matt, she hadn't been in the position to refuse them, and they'd made it clear if she did, that glass ceiling was going to come down and squash to the floor, or rather some dingy basement. So, she sucked it up, and she went. And they told her just a year, just one damn year. Then there was another assignment they had for her- refreshing older agents who'd been negotiating for over twenty years on new tactics, new methods, new whatever. That was another six, miserable months. They were all over fifty, all men, and all not interested on what she, a woman with less experience (didn't matter if she was in the top five) could tell them.

Then she spent another four months playing sidekick to the Bureau lawyer once again on a particularly brutal case. The agent had come with in a hair's fraction of screwing up, and by all rights, the Bureau deserved to be sued, but she walked the badly paid government mouthpiece through how negotiations should go, what can go wrong, and the specifics of this case. She spent long nights going through it over and over and over again, until his bosses were satisfied, and holding their hands through arguments, whispering in their ear about how Agent Baton couldn't have foreseen this, prevented that, or that his moves weren't completely asinine.

Finally, finally she thought she was going home, but she didn't get to then. Another friggin project came up that they needed her on, and once again she'd swallowed the disappointment, and reported to that same attorney's office to help him defend yet another bad negotiation. This time it turned out the agent wasn't in the wrong, and couldn't have prevented the hostage from being shot. Sometimes you don't win, that's what she'd told the lawyer, and that was what he was using as his mantra for the case. Three more months she'd held his hand, but this time, he didn't need as much hand-holding, which is what brought her to her boss's office today.

"Agent Lehman, I'm so sorry," his secretary smiled sweetly and interrupted her thoughts. "AD Michaels just doesn't have time in his schedule to see you today, could I schedule you for tomorrow?"

"No," she pinched the bridge of her nose, she knew he'd do this, damn it. "Tell Garth that either he sees me, or I walk out of the building now and never come back."

"I'm sorry?" She seemed confused by the threat.

"Yes, I'm threatening to quit." She stated dryly.

"Oh, okay. Just give me a minute then." She looked at Emily worriedly, and scurried back into her boss's office, so Emily was one again left alone with her thoughts.

Emily hated Virginia, hated Quantico, and hated that men that kept her there so long she grew to hate it. She missed LA terribly. She hadn't seen Lia in months, and Cheryl and the guys in even longer, and she had no friends out here, didn't have the time, and didn't think she'd be long enough to bother. But, what she missed most was Matt, and what she hated the Bureau higher-ups for most was keeping her from him. The last two years had been nothing short of turbulent and difficult. They tried like hell to stay together the first year, and it really hadn't been that bad. They'd taken turns flying from coast to coast, and learned to use online phones to avoid long distance charges. After that first year it became infinitely harder, because they were both lacking that faith that she'd come back to LA.

The visits were less frequent, and the phone calls strained with the heartache of missing someone so damn much you feel like you're bleeding all the time. They ended their relationship twice, and decided it was worse that way days afterward. They'd tried an open relationship; to have their physical needs satisfied by others, while not hurting each other. It didn't work real well. Either there was too much guilt going in, or too much guilt after they did it, and there wasn't anything either could do to change that. They'd even tried phone sex, which worked okay for awhile, but just wasn't the same. They tried making plans for the future, as if they had a definite date when she'd be returning, but they all fell flat. She'd had enough of that struggle, she wanted out of this, and she was ready to quit the Bureau if they refused to send her back to LA.

"Agent Lehman? He can squeeze you in for a few minutes now." She smiled at Emily again, and held the office door open for her.

"Thank you, Charlotte." She knew his secretary well by now.

"Emily, what can I do for you?" Garth smiled, and gestured for her to sit. He'd been one of _her_ teachers at the FBI Academy, and paid her special attention because of her talent.

"I want to go back to LA." She wasn't smiling, more scowling.

"I know, and I've been working on that, but you have to finish this thing with the attorney's."

"Bullshit Garth, you could have gotten someone else to do all this. Why am I still here?" She was angry as hell, and not hiding it.

"Emily, we may be friends, but I'm still your superior, watch how you speak to me." He tensed at her accusation.

"I don't care anymore, Garth. I've had it with waiting, with being patient. Either you're sending me back to LA, or I'm quitting the Bureau."

"Emily that's not really fair, an ultimatum like that-"

"Not fair? I've been stuck here for two years, and not bitched at you once! I'm going home Garth, as an FBI agent or a civilian it doesn't matter anymore."

The corners of his mouth suddenly turned up in an ironic little smile. "What's in LA that you are so anxious to see again?"

"What?"

"In the whole time I've know you Emily, I've never heard you refer to anyplace as home. Not New York, not that roachnest you called an apartment at Princeton, not the pathetic little dorm they put you up in here when you were training, hell not even your apartment here now. What makes LA home?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend you don't know every reason they had to send me out here."

He looked confused; Mexico was irrelevant, and as far as he new she had no relationship to speak of with her sister, that left…

"Your partner? I thought that was just a sex thing?" Then again, he should have figured she wouldn't risk her career for just a sex thing.

"No, but two years apart is hell on a relationship." She looked down awkwardly at her hands, fingers picking at each other.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do," he offered.

She shook her head. "No, that's not good enough anymore. I'm leaving on the red-eye tonight at seven. You have that long to get the Bureau to agree and transfer me." She told him, rising from her chair, and walking out, not waiting for an answer.

* * *

It was just after two-thirty in the morning and Emily was having no trouble keeping her eyes open. In fact she was fidgeting nervously in her seat as the pilot took his sweet damned time taxing to the gate. When she stepped off the plane, she would be in LA, and not just for a visit, but to stay, forever. That was the only thing she needed and the only thing she wanted. Matt was a thirty minute cab ride away, and her heart was starting to pound erratically at the thought. God, she missed him so much, missed waking up beside him, missed shifting her chair closer than necessary so that their arms would constantly bump into each other in their cubicle.

Now she struggled to be patient as the conveyer belt started turning ever so slowly, and baggage finally began appearing one by one. It felt like hours as the belt crawled by sure to lose to the tortoise in any race, and finally near the end, Emily's two suitcases appeared. She yanked them off, and adjusted her carry on, dragging one suitcase behind her, and carrying the other, wheel-less one. At least the taxis came quick, and with the cabby's assistance, they were off even quicker, thank god. She was struggling not to fidget in the back seat of the cab, but she was so wired, it was if she had ingested several cups of espresso. Her legs were jumping, and hands were playing with her hair, the seat belt, the fibers in the seat upholstery, anything she could find to keep them busy. Her lip was stuck securely between her teeth, shifted every so often by her pearly whites. Any decent cop would take one look at her and assume she was strung out, and badly in need of a fix.

Finally, he pulled up to the familiar small house, in which all the lights were out, and once again, he helped Emily yank her bags out of the trunk, and she made her way up the short path. Her hands were shaking now, as she adjusted her bags, and aimed the small silver key she'd been carrying since the airport in D.C. It took her a minute to calm herself and get steady enough to get the key in the hole, but it turned easy, and she shuffled in. The street lamps gave her all the light she needed to discard both checked bags, and walk nervously toward the bedroom. She was surprised she hadn't woken him yet, but she remembered wistfully, when he was really tired, Matt slept like the dead.

Her anxiousness had turned to nerves, as she began to wonder irrationally if he might not want her back after all this time. She chastised herself for her insecurities and walked quietly toward the bed, where Matt was laying on his side, sheet drawn up to his waist, one arm hanging off the bed. Even though she wasn't there, he was still on his side of the bed. She sat lightly beside him, and ran a hand down his bare shoulder, trying to wake him gently. He stirred and subconsciously swatted at her hand, before settling back into sleep. Her eyebrows raised and mouth curved upward in amusement; there was a better way to wake him. She leaned close to his face, and captured his lips in a searing kiss, pulling back only when she felt him waking quickly.

Matt woke with a start and pulled his body into a sitting position, stunned to see a woman beside him. He flicked on the light and stared in shock at Emily, blinking his eyes in the bright lights.

"Hey," she smiled. "It's still late, but my flight just got in."

He looked confused. "Did I know you were coming tonight?" He'd feel like an ass if he forgot to pick her up at the airport.

She grinned. "No, this one was a surprise."

"Oh…not that I'm not happy to see you and all, but to what do I owe this surprise? I didn't forget an anniversary or something did I?" His expression was slightly pained, slightly guilty, and still clouded in vestiges in sleep.

"No, no anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, or otherwise festive reasons for my sudden appearance in your bedroom." She bit her lip, pausing nervously. "I'm back in LA for good."

"Huh?" Matt's brow creased in confusion, eyes still squinting out the bright light, and hair sticking up in every direction a compass pointed, making him appear completely adorable to her.

"I got tired of waiting, so I gave them an ultimatum…either they transfer me back to LA, or I go back as a civilian."

"What? You threatened to quit?" He stared at her in surprise, she may very well have just given up her career.

"Doesn't matter, I wanted to come home and they weren't letting me." She shrugged, as if it wasn't the big deal, when it was actually a huge deal.

"Okay, so what did they say?" He was completely perturbed, that wasn't like Emily.

"They called me five minutes before I got on the plane and told me that I was to report to SAC Carrera on Monday morning." She smiled, even as she nibbled on her lip.

"Wait, you were just going to get on the plane without even waiting for an answer?" He asked her, incredulously.

"Yes, it didn't matter, Matt. Either way I was coming home tonight, and I don't plan on leaving again." She moved close to him, straddling his lap, and craning her neck down toward him, pressing her lips to his in a very passionate kiss that still half-asleep Matt wasn't quite prepared for.

She pulled back, allowing him to breathe, his eyes wide, mind still trying to process his late night surprise.

"Are you happy to see me?" She asked coyly, staring into his eyes.

Matt wasn't quite sure how to answer that. Was she nuts? Of course he was happy to see her, in fact she start feeling just how happy he was very soon if she kept looking at him like that. He swallowed, he hadn't felt this dopey around Emily since they first started dating, and now he felt like he'd just reverted back to junior high. Of course, now a grown man, he knew a quick way to remedy his situation.

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, and rested his other hand on her back, flipping her over in one smooth move, so she was underneath him. She giggled and pulled his head down, suctioning her lips to his again, stealing his breath. His hands travel along her familiar body, feeling her soft skin beneath his fingertips. Both of her hands were buried deep in his hair, holding his face close to hers, until she was ready to let up.

"God, I missed you so much," she whispered, untangle one hand, and caressing his face.

He leaned close to her ear, kissing her neck before leaning up and whispering to her. "Let me show you how much I missed you too."

His breath hit her ear at just the right angle causing her to scrunch into herself and giggle. Then she gazed up at him, biting her lip, and nodded slowly, capturing his lips in one more soul-stealing kiss, before relinquishing control to him.

It went slowly at first, two people who'd grown lonely with their lover far away for so long, finally not only getting them back, but also gaining back the security that they'd be there tomorrow, and everyday after. They were maybe even a little shy, a little nervous, having felt so disconnected from each other for so long. But, soon they plunged ahead, almost morphing into two new people. Lovers who needed each other so badly, if the building had been burning they wouldn't have been able to let go of each other. It all culminated in on of the most earth-shattering moments either had ever experienced.

Afterward, they laid together naked, wrapped so tightly around each other nothing thicker than a sheet of paper was getting through. Emily was secure in her decision, and exactly where she wanted to be now and for the foreseeable future. FBI be damned. Her eyes closed with that thought in her mind, and one of Matt's hands stroking her hair.

If break-up sex was good, and make-up sex was better, 'I missed you' sex was nothing less than stupefying.

* * *

_Not much to say on this one, just popped into my head, hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading and please review! _


End file.
